


Fireworks and Fire Escapes

by BriMarie



Series: Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-ling in Love [4]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Aged Up, Childhood Friends, Confessions, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, New Year's Eve, New Year's Fluff, New Year's Kiss, New Years, Nini Salazar roberts - Freeform, Ricky Bowen Loves Nini Salazar-Roberts, Secret Crush, high school musical the musical the series - Freeform, hsmtmts, ricky bowen - Freeform, rini - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28006278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriMarie/pseuds/BriMarie
Summary: In which, Ricky and Nini bring in the new year after sneaking off from the rest of the party and talk about their resolutions. The new year is starting to look like it'll be the start of something new between the pair.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Series: Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-ling in Love [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2012539
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29





	Fireworks and Fire Escapes

**Author's Note:**

> Last fic of the year!

The time was 11:20 pm.

The streets of Salt Lake City were mostly empty with the exception of the people clubbing and setting up for the firework show at midnight.

Ricky and Big Red's apartment was more lively than expected, considering it was less than ten people within the small living room. It shouldn't be all that shocking since their friends have always been a rowdy bunch and heavy partiers.

Big Red and Ashlyn had been heavily flirting on the couch with a half empty bottle of champagne on the coffee table. Carlos, Seb, and Kourtney had been cheering on Gina and EJ chugging down as much of the keg as possible after Gina challenged him to a duel.

Ricky had been pretty quiet in his seat as he sipped on bourbon. And last but not least, Nini had been standing in the kitchen watching her friends antics from the distance. Nini had her fair share of drinks and was a little light headed, but she wasn't gone yet.

She felt herself dozing off a little as she rested her head on her fist on the counter. She's awakened by the sound of a bottle loudly slamming on the table. She looks up to see her long time best friend with a smile on his face.

"You interrupted my nap."

"Oh please, like you would've gotten any sleep with all the ruckus."

"You're speaking to the girl who slept through a fire alarm twice."

"I hate when you remind me of that. That's definitely not a good thing to sleep through."

She smirks. "Awe, you do care."

He rolls his eyes teasingly. "Speaking of fires..."

"I thought you didn't wanna talk about fires." She interrupts with a playful smile.

" _Anyways_ , I was thinking of going up the fire escape to get a break from the party. It's getting a little claustrophobic to me. Also, we could see the fireworks really well up there. What do you say?"

She glanced back at her friends to see them all giggling or dancing fiercely as they let their drunken state take over. They wouldn't notice if two people left, and she figured she wouldn't miss much anyways.

"Are you bringing that bottle of champagne up?"

"Yep, and I snagged a few snacks." He held up a bag of chips and a few candy bars.

"Let's go before they realize you stole the last bag of bbq chips."

"Good call."

He opens the window to the fire escape and lets her exit first. He follows her up the stairs until they finally get to the rooftop. Nini walked over to the edge to see the city from below. She admires how breathtaking the view was with all the colorful lights and stunning horizon.

She looks over her shoulder to see Ricky already sitting on his jacket that he laid out for the both of them with the bottle and snacks in front of him. She skipped over to him and sat hip to hip with him.

She noticed he had been staring into space, which is something he did when he was deep in thought. She rested her chin on his upper arm, making him break his trance.

"Have you ever had a New Year’s resolution?" He asks randomly.

She scrunched her brows as she tried to recall if she ever had but came up empty handed. "No, actually. I guess I never tried to make them since I figured I wouldn't go through with them anyways."

He nods. "Same here."

"Are you thinking of having one?"

He shrugged. "I mean, yeah I guess. There are few things I'd like to get accomplished next year, so a resolution doesn't seem like a bad start."

"What're your goals?"

He averts his eyes to the strings on his hoodie and lightly blushes. "I wanna be more straightforward and honest with the people around me, especially the group."

That caught her attention. "Have you been hiding something from us?"

"Yeah, but it isn't anything bad. And it really only affects one person in our group."

"Who?"

He stays silent and hopes she will somehow forget he said anything. He grabs the bottle and begins chugging some of it to stall.

When he finishes, he wasn't shocked to see her staring impatiently at him. He sighed. "I'll tell you a little later."

She wanted to know now but trusted he would stick to his word, so she dropped it for now. "Well I guess I'll go ahead and do a resolution too, so you're not alone." She thought of a good answer and beamed when she came up with one. "I think I wanna be in love this year."

He raises his brows at her response. "Really?"

She nods making an "mm hm" sound. "Yeah, I've only dated twice, and I realized I've never actually been in love before. I wanna experience it at least once to see what the fuss is all about with someone special."

"Wait, you've seriously never been in love?"

She shakes her head. "Nope." She says popping the p.

"Wait, what about that Aidan dude? You guys seemed pretty into each other."

"He was more into me than I was into him. That's why I broke up with him, and it was a good call because I heard he's a total douche now."

"Well, I hope you get your resolution."

She locked arms with him and smiles cheekily. "Have you ever been in love Ricky?" She sing songs.

He makes a nervous laugh and blushes madly. She smirks knowingly. "I'll take that as a yes. Who's the lucky girl?"

"That's not important."

"Of course it is! Is she someone you're ashamed of or something?"

"No, definitely not. I actually hang around her a lot in private and public."

"Do I know her?"

He just nods as he goes back to anxiously fiddling with his hoodie strings.

"Is she pretty?"

"Gorgeous. She's probably, no _definitely_ , the most beautiful person I've ever seen."

She feels a little tang of jealousy when he described this mystery girl. She must be truly something to make Ricky speak so highly of her since he wasn't known for being open about his feelings.

"How long have you loved her?"

"God, who knows? Months, years, maybe even a decade. I don't think I've ever not been in love with her."

She tries to ignore the rising jealousy in her body. She wasn't even sure why she was getting so upset. She should be thrilled her best friend is in love. Maybe she was just jealous that he got to experience love before her.

"She must be someone in our friend group or from childhood then because you've known all the girls in the group for a decade now."

He nods again. She considered asking which girl it was but didn't want to push it. Was it Gina? She seemed like his ideal type with her vibrant personality and killer dancing skills. Maybe it was Emily from their neighborhood who had a little thing with him back in the day. The possibilities were endless.

"What do you love about her?"

He finally looks up for the first time since he's been speaking about her. He gets a twinkle in his eye and an enchanted smile that Nini has never seen on him.

"Where do I start? Her eyes are so captivating. I think I've gotten lost in them over a thousand times since I've known her. I try not to make it obvious so she doesn't catch on that I'm silently admiring her. Her personality suits mine well since she pretty much shares the same interests, but we still have enough differences, so it never gets boring when I'm with her."

She wished a man would speak about her this way one day. "Tell me more."

"Sure. She has a contagious smile, and she lights up a room the second she walks in. Everyone loves her because how couldn't they? She's perfect in every way, and I don't blame people for wanting to be around her. She knows me so well. I think better than anyone. I could probably talk to her for days."

She felt a lump in her throat, and her envy returned. She thought she knew him better than anyone, not some random chick. She bites her lip. "She sounds incredible."

"She is."

"When will you tell me who she is?"

"Very soon."

He checks his phone to see it's 11:58. He didn't realize how quickly time had passed. "The fireworks are about to start."

She just nods as she leaned her head against his arm, trying to hide her saddened face. She couldn't stop wondering who this woman was that stole her best friends heart, and why she was so jealous. She felt so childish for not wanting him to pursue whoever she was.

"Neens?"

"Hm?"

"I called your name a few times. Are you alright?"

"Oh sorry, yeah I'm fine. What did you need?"

"I was just saying we should go to the edge so we can see the city better when the show starts."

"Yeah, sure."

He takes another sip of the champagne before getting up. He helped her up from her spot and led them to the edge. He didn't release her hand from his. The countdown from one minute finally started.

He looks over at her and sees she's a little off. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You can tell me anything Neens."

"Apparently so can your mystery girl."

He raises a brow. "Is that what this is about?"

She stays silent, which answered his question. The sound of people counting down all across the city can be heard in the background, but he was only focused on the woman next to him.

"Nini, are you jealous?"

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter."

She sees him smirk in her side vision and got annoyed. So he thinks this is amusing?

"I'm just gonna go inside."

She whips her hand from his and begins walking back ten seconds before the new year. Before she gets too far, she feels him grab her wrist.

"Wait Neens."

She didn't face him. "Not now Ricky."

_Ten_

"Neens, let me talk."

_Nine_

"We'll talk later."

_Eight_

"No, we need to clear this up now."

_Seven_

She finally turned to face him, and she didn't notice the single tear on her cheek. "What do you want?"

_Six_

He pulls her to him. "I said I wanted to be honest with someone in the group next year."

_Five_

"What does that have to do with your mystery girl?"

_Four_

He wraps one of his arms around her waist and places his palm on her cheek. "Everything."

_Three_

"What're you saying?"

He smiles and rests his forehead on hers. "It's you Nini. Always has been."

_Two_

Nini gasped before noticing the longing look in his eyes. She doesn't know how she didn't notice them before.

_One_

A roaring sound of millions of people screaming "Happy New Year" at the top of their lungs erupted throughout the city. The second the fireworks went off, Ricky lifts her chin and softly pressed his lips against hers.

She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, loving the feeling of his lips on hers. He pulls her a little off of the ground to deepen the kiss. She sighs as she moved her lips against his.

She feels a wave of pure joy overcome her with every passing moment. Her heart was going mad in her chest, and she could feel butterflies erupt inside her gut. She doesn't think she's ever been kissed with so much passion in her life, and she hoped this wasn't the last.

He finally detached when he needed oxygen and set her down. He rubbed circles with his thumb on her hipbones.

"So if you haven't guessed already, you're the woman I was referring to." He teases.

She giggles. "Yeah, I got that."

He gently hides his face in the crook of her neck and pulls her into a tight hug. "Do you think that maybe I could be the guy you fall in love with?" He asks nervously with rosy cheeks.

She thought that was the cutest thing she's ever seen. She kisses his cheek. "Absolutely."

She feels him smile into her neck. He presses a few kisses along her shoulder and lower neck before she motioned for him to kiss her. He smashes their lips together, and she feels the same sensation from earlier. She lifts both legs off the ground while he swung her around.

They kissed for what seemed like hours, yet neither got enough of each other. If being with Ricky already felt this great, she couldn’t wait to see what else was to come. As she gazed into his eyes, she knew the new year would be full of love and new memories.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank goodness this god forsaken year is coming to a close. I hated every second of it ❤️
> 
> I think I might turn this long Rini enemies to lovers fic into a small multi chapter as originally planned (5-10 chapters) because I feel like something is off as I write it because it needed to be a longer narrative the way I want it to play out. We’ll see.
> 
> Happy New Year! Hopefully it'll be a better one. Now I'm gonna go get wasted to forget all my problems, bye bye!


End file.
